"Mrs. Brady, thank you for a wonderful dinner, I'm going to turn in now too. Today has been a long day, and I find when traveling, I'm always tired just a little bit more than I usually would be. I'll see you in the morning." Lacey tells her diplomatically as she walks up beside me, her lips pursed into a thin line.
"Oh, of course. I should have known you'd both be tired. You've had a long day. Get some rest, so you're ready for the party tomorrow." Mom says taking the plates from the table and stacking them on top of one another.
"Goodnight Mom," I say as I exit the dining room.
"Are you going to call Sarah?" Lacey asks as we reach her bedroom.
"Yeah, she deserves to know that her mom's been trying to get her to come home. God, I hate that woman, she must be after something." Sarah is going to be pissed, and rightly so. Knowing Sarah though, she's going to call her mom and tell her to stop asking, she won't be coming home.
"Okay, I'm going to try and catch up on some of the course work that's due for when we get back."
I laugh, "You're such a nerd."
She pushes me away, "Says the woman who reads for fun. Night Mia."
“Night Lacey,” I say and watch as she closes her bedroom door.
Walking past Harrison's office, I hear him talking. Well, more like growling. "What do you mean you won't be here for breakfast?" Everyone's mood seems to have dropped. "Hudson, your ass better be here for the party. Tina's excited to meet you. She's going to be upset now that you're no longer attending breakfast. She had hoped you'd meet Mia before the party."
I continue walking past his office and up the stairs, I need to call Sarah and then crawl into bed and read.
Reaching into my pocket, I take out my phone and dial Sarah's number. She answers right away. "Hey Mia, wishing you had stayed home?" She laughs, I've told her about Mom marrying Harrison and that I wasn't looking forward to meeting him. "What's he like?"
Walking into my bedroom, I close the door behind me. "He's actually really nice, not at all what I had imagined," I tell her as I climb onto the bed and lie down. "Mom asked about you today."
"Oh yeah? Is she missing me?" She laughs, "Oh shit, you're silent, what happened?"
She knows me too well. "Okay, so your mom's been asking mine about whether or not we've been speaking and if we had could I get you to come home?" I'm still so angry about it.
"Christ! I've told her a million times before. I can't go home Mia. I'm finally happy with my life." Sadness creeps into her voice, and I know that she's not really happy, she wants more, but that's not going to happen yet so she's dealing with it the best way she can.
"I know, so how is Allie?" I ask her, "I miss her."
"She's good. She's finally starting to sleep through the night. I couldn't take much more of the lack of sleep. I was like a zombie." She does sound much better, maybe she is happy?
"I told you, Sarah, come to us anytime, Lacey and I love Allie, and we'll watch her while you catch up on sleep." I wish we lived closer. She's alone with a ten-month-old baby and no support system around her at all.
"I love you both. You don't know how much your support has meant to me."
Tears spring to my eyes, "Have you had any more thoughts about Jagger?"
When Sarah fell pregnant, she was scared. At first, she had no idea what to do. When she hit the six-month mark she decided she'd go to San Fran and see Jagger. He'd gotten back with Carina while she'd been gone, hell they could have reunited the next day for all we know. Sarah toyed with leaving them be and telling them, but ultimately she wanted her baby to know her dad and called Jagger. He didn't answer, but she got a voice message from Carina, they knew she was pregnant, how I don't know. The message left on her voice mail was horrible, and I hate Jagger for not having the balls to call Sarah himself. If he didn't want the baby that's fine, but to have Carina call and be a bitch wasn't necessary.
"I still haven't decided yet. I'm thinking I should contact him and let him know that I had Allie and if he ever changes his mind that she'd love to see him. I'm not a spiteful person Mia, I would never withhold Allie from him, he's her dad, and I would love if they got to have that bond that you had with yours. I was so envious, but it was so beautiful. That's what I want for my baby."
"I know you're not a spiteful person Sarah, the fact that you're willing to call him says everything. Maybe you should send him an email?"
She laughs, "An email? Mia, what century are you in?"
"Look, everyone needs an email address for their phones. Besides, you can attach a picture of Allie. Because seriously, who could say no to her? She's such a happy smiley baby." Talking about her makes me miss her even more. I really need to take a trip to the big apple and see them both.
She sighs, "You're right. I'll do it tomorrow. I'll type out an email and attach a picture of Allie. God, what would I do without you?"
"You'll never have to find out. I'll call you tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah, thanks Mia, for everything."
"Goodnight Sarah."